His grandfather ran a small record label in the 60s, releasing doo wop and bubblegum alongside shards of soul. His father, meanwhile, was in bands during the 80s, providing a backdrop to his early childhood.

Writing songs from childhood, Roken swapped New York for Nashville, before flying out to London to develop his own sound.

Left field R&B mingling with deft electronics, a further move to Los Angeles allowed Roken to bring all of these places together.

Working alongside Francois Tetaz (Gotye) and Jasper Leak (Sia) to produce an EP, it's a patchwork of his experiences to date.

He explains: "The EP is an interesting group of songs in the sense that some were written at home on Long Island surrounded by friends and loved ones, while others were written in other cities across the country with people I was just meeting for the first time. I think you can really get a sense of the loneliness I was feeling in some of the songs I wrote when I was far away from home."

New cut 'Comfortable' is online now, a bold return that hinges on that dramatic vocal, his ability to bring decidedly non-pop influences into a pop context.

Roken explains: "One of my favourite things to do when producing is to find a sound or a group of sounds that I don't normally hear on the radio, and then melding that with the words and story being told in the song. I think being able to find a way to blend the lyric with the music in a fresh and interesting way that still makes sense, is the ultimate goal in creating music."

Tune in now.

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